Power drive disconnect for toy vehicles



Nov. 10, 1970 w,.| HAYES EIAL 3,538,640

POWER DRIVE DISCONNECT FOR TOY VEHICLES I Filed Nov. 24, 1.967 3INVENTOR WILLIAM L. HAYES 'BYYuKlMnsu MATSUSHWO Mew ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent 3,538,640 Patented Nov. 10, 1970 3,538,640 POWER DRIVEDISCONNECT FOR TOY VEHICLES William L. Hayes, 12015 NE. 66th, Kirkland,Wash. 98037, and Yukimitsu Matsushiro, Tokyo, Japan; said Matsushiroassignor to said Hayes lFiled Nov. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 685,664 Int. Cl.A6311 29/22 U.S. Cl. 46243 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISfiLOSURE A toyvehicle having two modes of operation over the ground, the first orself-power mode utilizes a windup spring or electric powered drive motoroperatively connected through a gear transmission to drive groundengaging wheels to move the vehicle along the ground. The other mode isa freewheel mode wherein the power transmission disconnects the drivemotor from the ground engaging wheels so that the vehicle can be pushedby the child in the freewheel mode without damaging the gears of thepower transmission, or the operating mechanism of the power drive motor.In a preferred embodiment the disconnect mechanism is biased to thefreewheel position and is actuated to the self-power mode by a switch,or in the case of remote controlled toys by a portion of the plugconnector between the vehicle and the remote control unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to a power transmission for toy vehicles and it relates moreparticularly to a disconnect mechanism which permits the vehicle to beoperated alternately in a power driven or freewheeling mode.

Description of the prior art Drive mechanisms for self-powered toyvehicles have made many advances in recent years. Their reliableoperation and broad range of speeds have provided many hours ofentertainment for their youthful owners. In the case of toy vehiclespowered by electric motors it is generally characteristic of these toysthat the motors are of relatively high speed, lightweight designs andtherefore require a substantial gear reduction before the power from thedrive motor can be applied to the ground engaging wheels of the vehicle.Due to the limitation on the price that can be reasonably charged forsuch toys, the quality and durability of the power transmission gears isof a nature that does not permit too rough of handling.

In the normal life of a self-powered electric toy vehicle it oftenoccurs that by the time the initial set of batteries has become spent,the owner of the toy seeks to use it as a freewheeling toy awaiting thereplacement of the batteries. It has been found, however, that pushingthe toy along the ground, whereby the power is applied through the axleof the ground engaging wheels back through the transmission, oftencauses increased wear and ultimate destruction of the gears. This isparticularly so in high gear ratio systems such as where a worm gear isused to transfer the power from the drive motor to the transmission gearreduction set. Thus the toy becomes useless, not only as an electricpowered toy since the transmission will no longer transmit the powerfrom the drive motor to the ground engaging wheels, but also in thefreewheeling mode since the drag of the transmission and drive motoralong with the possible mismeshing of the gears makes it difficult torotate the ground engaging wheels at all. This, then, spells the end ofthe useful life of the relatively expensive toy.

A similar life cycle is experienced with toy vehicles having other thanelectric powered drive motors, since spring drive motors also generallyutilize a power transmission gear reduction which does not operate verywell when the power is transferred from the ground engaging means backthrough the transmission to the drive motor.

With this experience of a relatively short life for a relativelyexpensive toy, parents often develop sales resistance toward any type ofself-powered vehicle. Thus it is seen that there is a definite need foran improvement in the design of a power transfer mechanism for toy vehicles, particularly to overcome the problems caused by attemptedfreewheeled operation of such vehicles. It is therefore the principalobject of the instant invention to provide a generally improved powertransmission mech anism for self-powered toy vehicles which includes aprovision for disconnecting the ground engaging wheels from the powertransmission and drive motor for freewheeled operation of the vehiclewithout damage to the power transmission and drive motor.

An additional object of the instant invention is to provide a geardisconnect mechanism for a toy vehicle transmission which provides ayielding member permitting easy and nondestructive meshing of the gearswhen the mode of operation is being changed from freewheeling toselfpower.

Another object of the instant invention is to provide a self-powered toyvehicle utilizing a remote control cable plug as an actuator means forchanging the mode of the power transmission of the vehicle from afreewheeling mode to a power driven mode.

A still further object of the instant invention is to provide agenerally improved power transmission mechanism for self-powered toyvehicles including a disconnect assembly which in its normal positiondisengages the power transmission and drive means from the groundengaging wheels of the vehicle for freewheeled operation, and alsoprovides means for easily actuating the disconnect mechanism forengaging the power transmission drive motor with at least one of theground engaging wheels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvedpower transmission mechanism for toy vehicles which can be disconnectedfrom the ground engaging wheels of the vehicle to permit the vehicle tobe operated in a freewheeling mode without damaging or otherwiseoperating the power transmission and power drive motor. By utilizing theimproved power transmission mechanism of the instant invention, it ispossible to extend the useful life and thereby increase the buyersacceptance of selfpowered toy vehicles. It is also a feature of theinstant invention to provide an easy and nondestructive means foractuating the disconnect assembly of the improved power transmissionmechanism for toy vehicles so that they are reliable in operation, evenwhen used by children of tender age.

According to the invention, these various objects are obtained byincluding in the power transmission a disconnect gear and linkagecombination which permits the disconnect gear to be selectively engagedand disengaged to either operate in a power mode or permit operation ofthe ground engaging wheels free of any connection (with the rest of thepower transmission and drive motor. In one embodiment this isaccomplished by mounting the disconnect gear on an axle having a keywaywhich permits the gear to move axially relative to its axle from aposition in engagement with a gear fixed to the axle of a groundengaging wheel, or to become disengaged from this gear by being moved inthe opposite direction along its axle through the operation of adisconnect linkage. In another embodiment the disconnect gear is fixedto its axle, and the whole axle is movable relative to the gear of theaxle of the ground engaging wheel for selective engagement ordisengagement with this gear through the action of a disconnect linkagewhich moves the disconnect gears axle between the power mode andfree-wheeling mode positions. In both embodiments a biasing means isinterposed between the disconnect linkage and the disconnect gear topermit easy and nondestructive meshing of the disconnect gear when thelinkage moves it from the freewheel to the power drive position.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will becomemore clearly apparent from the following detailed description thereof,which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation view withsome parts removed for clarity of one embodiment of a self-powered toyvchicle utilizing the improved power transmission of the instantinvention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the power transmission of the vehicleillustrated in FIG. 1 with some parts removed for clarity.

FIG. 3 is a partial side elevation view as seen through lines 33 of FIG.2 illustrating one embodiment of the disconnect mechanism of the instantinvention.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a second embodiment of the powertransmission of the instant invention with some parts removed forclarity.

FIG. 5 is a partial side elevation view of the disconnect mechanism ofthe second embodiment as shown from lines 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a third embodiment of the actuator assemblysuitable for use in the improved power transmission of the instantinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS For a more detailedunderstanding of the features of the first embodiment, reference isdirected to FIGS. 1-3 wherein a wheeled vehicle is there generallydesignated 1 and illustrated as being a toy car such as a racing car.The car 1 may include a body 3 mounted on an appropriately shaped frame5 which supports ground engaging wheels 7 in a position for runningalong the ground surface 6. A more specific description of the bodyframe and ground engaging wheels is unnecessary since their specificdesign is not a part of the instant invention and variations of suitabledesigns are well known by those skilled in the art.

Drive motor 10 is appropriately supported by frame 5 and through itsoutput means, shown in the form of worm gear 14, is connected to a powertransmission generally designated 12, which in turn, through variousgears to provide intermediate speed reduction, is operatively connectedthrough wheel gear '31 to the wheel axle 30 for powering ground engagingwheel 7. In more detail, the power transmission 12 may include a firstintermediate axle 16 mounted and supported by frame 5 through suitablebearings 17 and including at one end a large gear 18 which is engaged byand rotated through the action of power output worm gear 14 of drivemotor 10. Adjacent to and rotating with large gear 18 is a smaller gear19 also supported by intermediate axle 16. The second intermediate axle21 is also mounted for easy rotation in suitable bearings 17 supportedby the frame 5, and includes at one end the large gear 24 which mesheswith the smaller gear 19. Disconnect gear 25 is also supported by secondintermediate axle 21 and rotates as a result of the rotation of largegear 24 through the connection provided by the axle keyway 22 formed inone surface of the second intermediate axle 21 and the key portion 26 ofdisconnect gear 25. Thus it is seen that the disconnect gear 25 isaxially movable along keyway 22 of intermediate axle 21, while at thesame time it is rotatable with intermediate axle 21. The gear portion 27of disconnect 25 is formed for meshing with wheel gear 31 which isfastened to and ortates with wheel axle 30 which supports at one groundengaging wheel 7. As illustrated in FIG. 2, torque from the drive motor10 operates to turn its output worm gear 14 which, through meshingcontact with large gear 18, rotates first intermediate axle 16 and alongwith it small gear 19. As the small gear 19 rotates, its meshing Contactwith large gear 24 causes the second intermediate axle 21 and thedisconnect gear 25 to rotate, and in the position shown, the gearportion 27 of disconnect gear 25 meshes with the wheel gear 31 to rotatewheel axle 30 and with it ground engaging wheel 7.

The disconnect linkage 35, as shown in FIG. 2, includes crank lever 36pivotally mounted by pivot 39 and having at one end a fork-shapedportion 37, and at the other an actuator portion 38. The disconnectlinkage 35 is biased by means of spring 40 attached between the cranklever 36 and the frame 5 to normally rotate the crank lever 36 aboutpivot 39 to pull disconnect gear 25 out of engagement of its gearportion 27 with the wheel gear 31, as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 2,to permit the wheel axle and ground engaging wheel 7 to freely rotatewithout passing torque through the power transmission 12, or in turn tothe drive motor 10. The full line position of actuator assembly 42, asshown in FIG. 2, causes the actuator end 38 of the crank lever 36 torotate in a counterclockwise manner about pivot 39 to overcome thebiasing force of spring 40 and thereby positions the disconnect gear 25with gear portion 27 in meshing contact with wheel gear 31.

The actuator assembly may include an electrical control unit (not shown)which is held by the child for remote operation of the vehicle 1 and isconnected to the vehicle 1 by means of control cable 44 terminating at acontrol plug 45 which is inserted into the plug female fitting 46 formedin the body 3 of the vehicle 1 to provide an electrical connectionthrough wires 43 between the control unit and drive motor 10. Thecontrol plug 45 includes at its end an actuator surface 47 which, whenthe control plug 45 is inserted into female fitting 46, makes contactwith and urges the actuator end 38 of crank lever 36 in acounterclockwise direction to connect and mesh disconnect gear 25 withwheel gear 31.

FIG. 3 shows the fork end 37 of crank lever 36 as it engages disconnectgear 25 through slot portion 29 to move disconnect gear 25 axially alongsecond intermediate axle 21. To insure that gear portion 27 is notdamaged as it is positioned by crank 36 to mesh with wheel gear 31, coilspring 28 is positioned within slot 29 formed in gear 25 between gearpoiton 27 and collar ring 30. Spring 28 biases gear portion 27 away fromfork member 37 of crank 36, permitting some relative movement betweengear portion 27 and fork member 37 to urge but not jam gear portions 27into the teeth of gear 31 when crank 36 is in the power drive position.

Thus, it is seen that the disconnect mechanism of the power transmission12 can be positioned through the action of the actuator assembly 42 andthe disconnect linkage 35 in a power mode to connect the drive motor 10through the power transmission 12 to the wheel axle 30 to rotate theground engaging means 7 and thereby driving the vehicle 1. However, whenthe control plug 45 is pulled out of the fitting 46 spring 40 causescrank lever 36 to move in a clockwise manner about pivot 39 forcingdisconnect gear 25 to move along second intermediate axle 21 far enoughso that gear portion 27 no longer engages wheel gear 31. In thisfreewheeling mode it is possible for the ground engaging wheels 7 torotate freely without damaging or otherwise operating power transmission12.

To highlight the significance and to show the variety of means availablefor providing the results of the instant invention, attention is nowdirected to description of the second embodiment 50 as it is illustratedin FIGS. 4 and 5. The toy 50 includes a body 53 mounted upon andsupported by a suitable frame 55 which also supports ground engagingwheel 57, drive motor 60, power transmission 62, disconnect linkage 85,and actuator assembly 92. In more detail, the drive motor 60 may be ofan electric or spring motor type which includes an output means in theform of pinion gear 64 for transferring power through the powertransmission 62 ultimately to the wheel 57.

The power transmission 62 may include first intermediate axle 66 havinga large gear 68 meshing with pinion 64 and small gear 69 adjacent to androtatable with large gear 68. A second intermediate axle 71 may includeat one end an axle cap 72 which is biased by spring 73 away from forkend 87 of crank lever 86. Pork end 87 in its counterclockwise movementabuts disconnect band or axle collar 77 which is fixed to secondintermediate axle 71.

A side elevation view of fork end 87 and disconnect collar 77 is shownin FIG. 5. At the other end of intermediate axle 71 is large gear 74which meshes with small gear 69 to turn second intermediate axle 71.Between the disconnect band 77 and the large gear 74 is positioned adisconnect gear 75 which is fixed to second intermediate axle 71 andmeshes with wheel gear 81, which in turn is connected through wheel axle80 to ground engaging wheel 57.

To allow for the common situation in which the gear teeth of wheel gear81 are not positioned exactly for meshing with the disconnect gear 75 atthe same instant the crank 86 moves from the freewheel to power driveposition, spring 73 permits relative movement between fork 87 and gear75. This permits the power rotated gear 75 to be urged rather thanjammed into meshing relationship with wheel gear 81.

In the solid line position the second intermediate axle 71 is bodilymoved to the left, as shown in FIG. 4, by disconnect linkage 85 throughthe action of fork end 87 and disconnect band 77, so that disconnectgear 75 no longer meshes with wheel gear 81. Thus, the wheel 57 is freeto rotate without any drag or damage caused to or by powed transmission62.

To move the disconnect crank lever 86 between the power drive positionshown in dashed lines to the freewheel position shown in the solid line,elements of the actuator assembly 92 come into play. Basically, theactuator assembly 92 includes an electrical control plug 93 insertedinto fitting 94 and including at one end an actuator surface 97. Whenactuator assembly 92 is positioned in the actuation position as shown indashed lines, actuator surface 97 is contacted by the actuator end 88 ofa crank lever 86. In order that the disconnect gear 75 remains out ofengagement with the wheel gear 81 when plug 93 is withdrawn from fitting94 for the freewheeling mode, there is provided a biasing means in theform of spring 90 which is attached between the body 53 and the cranklever 86 so that the crank lever does not pivot about its pivot 89 toengage gear 75 with gear 81, unless and until actuated by means of theactuator assembly 92.

If desired it is possible to design the actuator means so that when themode selection is changed from the freewheel to the self-power conditionthe disconnect gear is mechanically urged toward engagement with thewheel gear just before the drive motor is energized. With reference toFIG. 4 it is noted that the electrical connectors 95 on the plug 93 donot make contact with the electrical contact 96 in the fitting 94 topass energizing current through wires 61 to drive motor 60 until afteractuator surface 97 has caused lever 86 to urge disconnect gear 75 intoengagement with wheel gear 81. This instant of delay permits theengagement of gears 75 and 81 before power is put to the transmission 62by output means 64.

While in the two embodiments shown the disconnect gear has been biasedaway from the connection with the gear driving the ground engagingwheel, it is certainly within the scope of this disclosure to have thebiasing means actuating the disconnect lever to hold the gear intoengagement until the actuator assembly moves the gear for disengagingthe power transmission. This would be particularly suitable in the caseof the third embodiment shown in FIG. 6 where a switch is used as theactuator means. It is also possible to use the actuator assembly 92 orcrank 86 as part of the switch means for actuating and stopping thedrive motor 60.

FIG. 6 illustrates a third embodiment actuator assembly 192 which doesnot involve the use of an electrical control connector such as plugs 45and 92 shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. As shown the actuator assembly 192includes a switch means 193 having a finger grip 194 and formed for easysliding within vehicle 153 from the solid line freewheel position to thedashed lines power drive position, at which latter position it may alsoeither make an electrical connection between batteries to energize anelectric drive motor or release a spring to energize a spring motor.Switch 193 includes actuator surface 197 which as shown in the dashedlines position contacts actuator end 188 to cause crank lever 186 topivot about pivot 189 overcoming the biasing force of spring 190.

It is, therefore, seen that there has been provided a generally improvedpower transmission means useful in toy vehicles for extending theirlife, while at the same time permitting the use of the toy in thefreewheeling mode without damage and without the drag experienced bypreviously designed power transmission systems.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy vehicle having a frame supporting a plurality of rotatableground engaging means, drive motor means including power output means,an external control unit detachably connected to the vehicle byconnector means and a control cable spanning between said connectormeans and said control unit, and power transmission means operativelyconnected between one of said ground engaging means and said poweroutput means to transmit power from'said motor means to said groundengaging means to move said vehicle relative to the ground; theimprovement comprising: said transmission means including movabledisconnect gear means having a power drive position to operativelyconnect one of said ground engaging means with said power output meansand a freewheel position to operatively disconnect said ground engagingmeans from said power output means, and mode selection means havingfirst means operatively connected to said disconnect gear means to moveit to and from said power drive and freewheel positions, and other meansoperatively connected to said drive motor to energize it in said powerdrive position and to deenergize it in said freewheel position, saidmode selection means being responsive to the interconnection betweensaid vehicle and said connector means to move said disconnect gear meansfrom said freewheel position to said power drive position and responsiveto the detachment of said vehicle from said connector means to move saiddisconnect gear means from said power drive position to said free-wheelposition.

2. The toy of claim 1 wherein:

said power output means is a worm gear.

3. The toy of claim 1 wherein:

said mode selection means includes actuator means and disconnect linkagemeans,

said actuator includes an actuator surface, and said linkage includes alever crank pivotally connected to said frame and having one endoperatively connected to said disconnect gear means and another endpositioned in the path of said actuator surface.

4. The toy of claim 3 wherein:

said linkage lever is biased to hold said disconnect gear means in saidfreewheel position until said actuator surface moves said lever aboutits pivot to move said disconnect gear means to said power driveposition.

5. The toy of claim 1 wherein:

said drive motor is electrically powered.

6. The toy of claim 1 wherein:

said transmission includes intermediate and wheel axles, said wheel axleincludes a wheel gear and at least one of said ground engaging meansfixed to said wheel axle for rotational movement therewith, saidintermediate axle includes a first gear, said disconnect gear, andcollar means supported for rotational movement with said intermediateaxle,

said intermediate axle includes a first gear, said disoutput means torotate said intermediate axle responsive to the rotation of said poweroutput means, and

said mode selection means includes linkage means operatively connectedto said disconnect means and said collar means to move said disconnectgear into engagement with said wheel gear in said power drive positionand out of engagement with said wheel gear in said freewheel position.

7. The toy of claim 6 including:

biasing means positioned between said linkage means and said disconnectgear means to yieldably urge engagement between said disconnect gearmeans and said wheel gear means when said mode selection means movesfrom said freewheel to said power drive positions.

8. The toy of claim 6 wherein:

said intermediate axle includes spring means, a cap means and issupported by said frame means and axially movable relative to said framemeans,

said cap means is fixed to said intermediate axle and supports one endof said spring means,

said collar is fixed to said intermediate axle between said cap meansand said disconnect gear,

said linkage means includes one end inserted between said collar meansand other end of said spring means to engage said collar and spring,

means to move said intermediate axle and said disconnect gear meansaxially between said freewheel and power drive positions.

9. The toy of claim 1 wherein:

said other means operates in sequence with said first means with said'first means moving said disconnect gear into said power drive positionjust prior to said other means energizing said motor means when saidmode changes from said freewheel to said power drive position and saidother means deenergizing said motor means just prior to said first meansmoving said disconnect gear out of said power drive position when saidmode changes from said power drive to said freewheel position.

'10. A toy vehicle and power control device comprising in combination:vehicle drive means including a motor having a power output shaft, aground engaging drive member, and power transmission means including afirst control member associated therewith, said transmission means beingoperative to connect said shaft to said drive member when said controlmember is in a first position and to disconnect said shaft from saiddrive member when said control member is in a second position; motorcontrol means; and connector means coupled with said control means andmovable from a first to a second position, said connector means whenmoved from its first to its second position operating to couple saidcontrol means with said motor and to place said control member in itssaid first position.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said first control member is alever spring-biased towards its said second position, said motor is anelectric motor, and said connector means includes an electric plughaving contacts engageable with the control circuit of said motor and acam surface engageable with said lever when the plug is connected to thevehicle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,848,315 3/1932 Cage. 3,386,4066/1968 Tsunoda 46243 X FOREIGN PATENTS 842,922 7/ 1952 Germany.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner R. F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R.

5% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,538,640 Dated November 10 1970 Inventor(s) William L. Hayes It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In claim 6, delete line 9 in its entirety, and insert in it:

place:

said first gear operatively connected to said power bialri.) END SEALED6 Attesl:

mmammm In mm a.

commissioner of Pah LAM/sting Officer

